Renton Highlands

Located in the city of Renton, east of interstate 405, lies the neighborhood of the Renton Highlands.  With its close proximity to Seattle and Bellevue, wide range of housing choices, diversity of shopping, and abundance of kid friendly activities, the Highlands is a perfect suburban neighborhood for the busy professional or stay-at-home parent.

Running errands is a breeze with so many stores in reach of each other.  One can even choose to ditch the car, break out the stroller, and walk to complete an errand run.  Mechanics, veterinarians, grocery stores, a gym, banks, coffee shops, eateries, a copy center, and a post office abound in close quarters making it easy to get things out of the way and enjoy time doing it.  Speaking of choices, the diversity of culinary options is a step above other surrounding neighborhoods.

As it turns out, the Highlands has no shortage of great food stops.  The place to get farm fresh fruits and vegetables is Top of the Hill Produce, a local market that supplies fresh eggs, milk and cheeses as well. Top of the Hill shares a building with Shawn and Ted’s Meat Market, one of the best meat markets in King County selling all grass fed beef.  Then it’s off to Wayne and Lisa Kofmehl’s All Things Wine where they have an extensive selection of Northwest wines and host weekly tastings to sample something you didn’t know you liked.  Luckily for international food lovers, the Renton Highlands is home to the famous Asian grocery importer Viet Wah who recently expanded outside of Seattle and into the Highlands. Just north of Viet Wah on Sunset Avenue is Saars grocery where they make fresh tortillas on location and have a bulk section of chilies, beans, and spices for Mexican cooking.  Don’t feel like cooking at home?  Then two local favorite restaurants, Thai on Highlands and Taqueria El Riconsito are sure to please.  And finally for the “localvores”, there’s Full Circle Farm and the Renton Farmer’s Market.  Located in Carnation, WA, Full Circle delivers fresh organic, local fruits and vegetables to all over King County and beyond, and by chance, the only delivery location for all of South King County is located in the Highlands.  The Renton Farmer’s Market, located in downtown, Renton runs every Tuesday evening from June through September.

When it comes to the kids, Kiwanis Park and the brand new Heritage Park will rank high on their to do list.  Both have large paved trails around them for jogging, well maintained play and picnic areas, and large fields for sporting activities.  Going to the park will be a daily ritual and are within walking distance from much of the housing in the Highlands. The city of Renton also has a strong community activities program for adults and kids of all ages.  Many of these activities and classes take place at the Highlands Neighborhood Center and the North Highlands Neighborhood Center. Other activities include dance lessons at the Rainier Ballet Academy and swim lessons at the Hazen High School pool.  The pool operates year round is open to the public.  Working out with the kids has never been easier at 24hour Fitness, where they offer affordable childcare while mom and dad can work out.  A discussion about kid’s activities would be incomplete without mentioning the library, and Renton is one of the few cities in King County with its own independent Library system.  The Highlands branch offers an abundance of free kids activities on a regular basis.  And when the family feels like venturing out of the Highlands, within minutes one can be lounging at the beach at Gene Coulon Park located on the shores of Lake Washington in downtown Renton, or hiking and exploring Cougar Mountain, which is part of King County’s 25,000acre park system and voted in the top 100 trails of North America by the web site trails.com.

Living in the Renton Highlands proves that moving to the Suburbs doesn’t have to mean more driving.  Its distinct location between the urban and rural centers of King County, rich diversity, and wealth of business and leisure activities makes the Renton Highlands a neighborhood ripe for discovery.